Perhaps no other field of technology in human history has evolved as quickly as electronic computing. Computers, computing environments, and computational services have evolved from primitive computer systems, controlled by programs input as stacks of Hollerith cards, which could execute only a single program at a given time, to complex, distributed, networked computing facilities that provide computing services to hundreds, thousands, or hundreds of thousands of concurrent users. As a result of the rapid and radical evolution of computer hardware, electronic communications, operating systems, and application programs, the methods by which computer systems are configured and managed have also evolved. Currently, the distribution of software and computational services, and the configuration and management of computers, servers, electronic communications networks, and other aspects of a computing environment, have become complex, time-consuming, human-resource-consuming, and expensive. Developers, manufacturers, vendors, and users of computers and computer systems continuously seek improved methods and systems for configuring and managing computers and computer systems, particularly in small and medium-sized businesses and other similarly-sized organizations.